Chapter Six
Shipwreck
Not caring if her robes became torn, Miyu made her way easily down one of the less steep sides of the cliffs, making her way to the rocky beach.
The damage was enormous; she already knew that they would never get a hole like that repaired. The Western ship by far dwarfed anything that their small fishing village had, so it was not surprising that they did crash. Everyone knew of the shallow waters near the cliffs; it was dangerous enough that even their small fishing boats had a hard time making their way threw safely. They must have run too close to the shore in the think fog and crashed into one to the rocks that rose sharply from the sea; that certainly was what it looked like. The hole was nearly as large as the hull itself, huge and gaping and ragged. It looked like some poor animal that had been torn apart by very sharp teeth and claws. Masts were snapped in half, the sails badly tattered. The entire vessel itself was almost rolling over on its side, creating in the waves. Broken pieces of wood littered the water, washing up onto the beach.
Then there were the Western Shinma. Like the wood, there was many still in the water, but it looked as if a good deal of them had made it safely to the shores. They looked shaken, cold, lost and afraid. Many of them were hugging themselves, shaking visibly. They probably know where it was they had crashed, and we easy pray for anything dangerous that came this way. At a quick count, Miyu estimated that there was perhaps sixty or seventy men, perhaps more. Who knew how many were still on the ship, or even worse, trapped in it. A wave of confusion and fear washed over Miyu, and she immediately felt sorry for them.
Something had to be done. She could not let them sit there and freeze to death, and night was approaching swiftly.
She looked back up at the cliffs. The entirety of the village was still standing still, watching her and their foreign visitors. Not even Rou was moving. "Are you coming or not?" Miyu called to them. "They need our help!" It seemed that was all the persistence that they needed. One by one, the Japanese Shinma made their way shakily down the side of the cliffs.
Several of the Western Shinma jumped at the sight of her, looking startled. She almost forgot that most Western Shinma considered this enemy ground. Miyu slowed down and stopped, raising her hands before her in a motion of peace. "Please, do not be alarmed." She said slowly in plain English, slightly accented by her native tongue. "We are here to help you, not harm you. There is a village up on those cliffs. We can treat your injured there."
"You…speak English?" This seemed to be as abnormal as flying cows to these people.
"Yes, but it is not important." Miyu said. "Are there any injured people? Do not be afraid, we will help you."
One of the men blinked at her, then said, "Yes, there are injured. A lot of them."
"Can you bring them up the cliff?"
The men scanned the cliff. "I think so. The climb does not seem that difficult."
"Good." Miyu nodded. She turned and headed back to the crowd of Japanese Shinma that had gathered. "I need all able-bodied personal here to held tend to wounds and help these people up the cliffs. The rest of you, return to your homes and prepare sickbeds. We want to make them feel welcome."
"Miyu…" Kanyo spoke carefully. "Are you sure this is wise? Most other times our Clans ignore each other, and it is a clash when we meet…"
"Kanyo." Miyu's tone was hard, unyielding. "We can't leave them alone. I doubt they'll do us any harm."
Silence held for a few tense moments. Finally, the elder sighed. "Very well. You heard the Guardian!" She called back to the others. "I want the men to stay here! All women, return to your homes and prepare the sickbeds!"
No one complained or questioned. Instead they all took off immediately to their appointed duties.
They inspected each Western Shinma closely, checking for mostly internal injuries once all the external ones have been taken care of; broken bones or pain where there was no wound. For the better part, all looked to be not too badly injured; only some minor scratches and welts, a few broken ribs here and there, maybe a fractured leg. Most of them were just cold and scared. Once their injuries had been tended to, they were helped up the cliff and towards the Japanese village.
Miyu personally saw to each one of the injured men, mostly to calm their minds so the process would go quicker. Even though soothing of one's mind did not require too much energy, it was draining her fast, and dusk was falling. Soon, Rou was pacing around the sight where the injured were being tended to, lighting small trails of blue fox-fire along the rocks for light to see by.
"Miyu…" He observed as her caught her leaning against a rock, trying to catch her breath. "You are exhausted. Come, I will take you back up."
"But what about them?" She asked, looking out among the Western Shinma that still remained. Or tried to, anyway. He vision was blurring.
"They will be fine." Rou reassured her. "I will stay here with them."
This seemed to satisfy Miyu, and she smiled. "All right. You stay here, I can make my way up just fine. Good night, Rou."
"Good night, m'Lady." Rou bade to her as she turned and headed back for the cliffs. Not more than a few moments after Miyu had disappeared into the darkness, he head a call behind him from one of the Japanese Shinma.
"Oi! Kitsune! We need your help greatly here!"
Rou came to the call immediately to see several of the Japanese Shinma pulling someone from the waters. It was a young man, perhaps in his mid-twenties in human terms, looking in even worse condition than any other else that they had tended to. His light blue hair was matted down with water before his eyes, which were closed tightly. His breathing was shallow, but he was unconscious. "Who is this?" He asked to the men.
"Damn if you know." One of the Japanese men snorted. "We don't speak their bloody language. They keep speaking of 'capu-tin'. He must be important, they all seem to be very worried."
The lay the man on the beach gently to not further his injuries. One of the Japanese Shinma bent over him, inspecting his wounds. The Westerners seemed to be in a rut, calling out to the man in words Rou could not understand. "Broken arm." The Japanese Shinma said finally. "He bears two cracked ribs, maybe one broken, and a nasty blow to his head. He was lucky to have survived."
Not wanted to move him, they waited patiently for a litter to become available so they could move him up the cliffs. The last hut available was Kanyo's hut, so it was a rather long walk from there. The man was in pain; he kept twisting and moaning when ever they hit a snag as they carried him to his sickbed.
More than in pain…
Rou thought as he trotted along side the litter. It looks as perhaps he's dreaming…As if on cue, the man opened his mouth and said, so softly that only Rou could hear, "Miyu…"
Rou stopped in his tracks, falling behind as they took the man away. He blinked in confusion, wondering if he had heard right. How could this Western Shinma possibly know Miyu? He must have heard it wrong.
But, still…his ears had yet to do that to him.
Shaking his head, he followed the litter to Kanyo's hut.
* * *
In the still of the night, Miyu awoke with a start, but from what? There was no Shinma near the hole, nothing to be worried about. Even with as tired as she was, she wanted to return to the shipwreck site and finish helping, but she was too tired to move. Besides, there were almost done anyway. There were very few people left on the beach.
Then, what woke her up?
If she did not know any better, she could have sworn that someone had called her name.
No, that's silly. Who would do that?
Miyu rolled over on her futon and fell back asleep.
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To be Continued…
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